Alzheimer’s Disease: Managing Behavior Symptoms without Medication (part 2)

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

You will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow Alzheimers1 on twitter

EmpowHER

In the late stages of Alzheimer’s, patients often spend about half of their time at night awake and a significant part of their daylight hours sleeping.

In extreme cases, people may have a complete reversal of the typical nighttime sleep pattern.

Non-drug treatments seek to create a regular sleep routine, improve the sleeping environment and reduce daytime napping. Non-drug sleep strategies include eliminating alcohol, caffeine and/or nicotine, increasing morning sunlight exposure and encouraging regular exercise (more than four hours before bedtime).

In addition, regular mealtime, bedtime and waking time schedule creates a pattern for the body to emulate. Moreover, it’s suggested that the bed be used only for sleep. Therefore, if the person awakens, discourage him/her from staying in the bed while awake.

In addition, for some reason, television is associated with sleep irregularities for Alzheimer’s patients. Therefore, consider discouraging the person with Alzheimer’s from watching television while awake.

Sources:

Treatments for Sleep Changes. Web. www.alz.org. Accessed 09 Jan. 2012.

Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease. Web. www. Alz.org. Accessed 09 Jan. 2012.

For Edge on Alzheimer’s, Testing Early Treatments. Web. www.nytimes.com. Accessed 09 Jan. 2012.